This document outlines the requirements for a final project in an English course on writing with new media. Students must create a website that communicates some aspect of life in Northeast Texas. The website must include an overview, one or more revised texts incorporating multimedia elements and archival materials, credits and information on copyright for all sources, a brief author profile, and optional additional materials. Students can work individually or collaboratively. The project will be completed in stages with deadlines for an overview, wireframe, revision plan, and final website.

1. Digital StorytellingIn Northeast Texas: The Final ProjectENGLISH 333, WRITING WITH NEW MEDIASPRING 2011SHANNON CARTER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE

2. Final Project: Webtext(40% of final course grade)For your final project, you will develop a webtext for a public audience that communicates some aspect of life in Northeast Texas. Essentially the final webtexts produced in this course should offer effective companion sites to the course text Memoirs of Old ET and/or the Texas A&M-Commerce Digital Collections, helping guide future writing projects making extensive use of archival research and tending to the local. They will emerge from your research this term and make extensive use of the DMPs already produced.

3. Here’s a Mockup (a “Wireframe”), which I created using one of the many free tools for this sort of thing.

4. ComponentsFinal webtext will combine deep revisions of at least one of the major assignments created for this course (Essays #1-2), appropriate design, and extensive use of reflective elements and other materials. Web projects make it possible to combine a range of channels of communication (i.e., linguistic, gestural, spatial, etc) into a single text. The project should take advantage of these possibilities and develop through several stages, from initial overview to final presentation.

5. Site ContentSite content will include the following: (OVERVIEW) short introduction to site contents; (TEXT) one or more significant multimodal texts (audio, video, photoessay, etc) revealing extensive and appropriate use of archival materials and deep revision;(CREDITS and CREATIVE RIGHTS) bibliography of all source materials, including relevant statement regarding creative rights for each; (PROFILE) brief profile from author; (FREE ZONE) any additional, relevant contributions that might enhance the website’s overall goals and purposes.

6. CollaborationYou are welcome to collaborate with 2-3 classmates to produce together a single, Digital Storytelling Portfolio. If you decide to go this route, I will provide separate guidelines for developing an effective Digital Storytelling Portfolio as a team. You should contact me early (THIS WEEK) and negotiate Group Contract long before we reach the first Milestone (see right column entitled “Milestones”).

7. Site ContentSite content will include the following: (OVERVIEW) short introduction to site contents; (TEXT) one or more significant multimodal texts (audio, video, photoessay, etc) revealing extensive and appropriate use of archival materials and deep revision;(CREDITS and CREATIVE RIGHTS) bibliography of all source materials, including relevant statement regarding creative rights for each; (PROFILE) brief profile from author; (FREE ZONE) any additional, relevant contributions that might enhance the website’s overall goals and purposes.

8. Overview, Example

10. Site ContentSite content will include the following: (OVERVIEW) short introduction to site contents; (TEXT) one or more significant multimodal texts (audio, video, photoessay, etc) revealing extensive and appropriate use of archival materials and deep revision;(CREDITS and CREATIVE RIGHTS) bibliography of all source materials, including relevant statement regarding creative rights for each; (PROFILE) brief profile from author; (FREE ZONE) any additional, relevant contributions that might enhance the website’s overall goals and purposes.

11. (TEXT) one or more significant multimodal texts (audio, video, photoessay, etc) revealing extensive and appropriate use of archival materials and deep revision;

12. Site ContentSite content will include the following: (OVERVIEW) short introduction to site contents; (TEXT) one or more significant multimodal texts;(audio, video, photoessay, etc) revealing extensive and appropriate use of archival materials and deep revision(CREDITS and CREATIVE RIGHTS) bibliography of all source materials, including relevant statement regarding creative rights for each; (PROFILE) brief profile from author; (FREE ZONE) any additional, relevant contributions that might enhance the website’s overall goals and purposes.

13. (Credits and Creative Rights)

15. A free web editor like Weebly is a great option for this Final Project.http://www.weebly.com

17. A complete tutorial is available for you athttp://www.weeblytutorial.com/

18. http://www.weeblytutorial.com/

19. MILESTONESWeek 11: Submit Site Overview for Digital Storytelling PortfolioWeek 12: Submit Wireframe with Design Plan and Submit Working BibliographyWeek 13: Submit Revision Plan/Storyboard Week 14: Final Webtext Due

20. MILESTONESWeek 11: Submit Site Overview for Digital Storytelling PortfolioWeek 12: Submit Wireframe with Design Plan and Submit Working BibliographyWeek 13: Submit Revision Plan/Storyboard Week 14: Final Webtext Due

21. SITE OVERVIEW (assignment description)Write an overview, concisely and with specifics, of the primary purposes of your site, the target audience(s), the content it will present, and how that content will be organized (e.g., number of pages, images, features, resources, etc). Describe what previous work you’ll be drawing from in developing this site, your primary concerns and projected timeline for each element and site as a whole, and needs in terms of technology support.

22. MILESTONESWeek 11: Submit Site OverviewWeek 12: Submit Wireframe with Design Plan and Submit Working BibliographyWeek 13: Submit Revision Plan/Storyboard Week 14: Final Webtext Due

23. Wireframe (assignment description)After choosing a site template and navigation system, sketch a standard page indicating all design elements including typography (font, size, formatting), color scheme, and image use. Include information about how the elements and rhetorical choices work with site’s overall purpose, audience, and key themes.

24. Q:What is a “Wireframe”?A:from“10 Completely Free Wireframing and Mockup Tools,” February 23, 2011.http://speckyboy.com/2011/02/23/10-completely-free-wireframing-and-mockup-tools/

25. THIS is a wireframe.

26. Q:Should I just sketch it out, then? By hand? If I do that, how do I share it in an online class? You can sketch it out, then scan or photograph it and post a pic of it. Or use a program like MS Paint, MS Word, or even PowerPoint and show those elements that way. If you like, you can even design a “Rough Cut” of your website to share. The web editing tools like Weebly are easy enough to use that you may actually find it helpful to jump right in with design knowing you’ll likely need to make significant changes in subsequent revisions. A:

27. A:Also from “10 Completely Free Wireframing and Mockup Tools,” February 23, 2011.http://speckyboy.com/2011/02/23/10-completely-free-wireframing-and-mockup-tools/

28. I used Mockup Builder (www.mockupbuilder.com).

30. Pro:Easy to use. Fun to use. Easy to save, undo, and rebuild.Not easy to share, so perhaps not the best option for those of you developing collaborative sites. To share my templates, I used Jing to do a screen shot of my mockup. See rest of article for better options for collaboration. Con:“10 Completely Free Wireframing and Mockup Tools,” February 23, 2011.http://speckyboy.com/2011/02/23/10-completely-free-wireframing-and-mockup-tools/

31. One recommended option for collaborative site design is . . . http://www.protoshare.com/Not free, though. Could go with a 30 day trail.

32. Or simply dive in and design your site on web editing tool like Weebly, knowing you are likely to need to design multiple versions of the site to get it to do what you want it to do. http://www.weebly.com

35. http://www.weeblytutorial.com/

36. MILESTONESWeek 11: Submit Site OverviewWeek 12: Submit Wireframe with Design Plan and Submit Working BibliographyWeek 13: Submit Revision Plan/Storyboard Week 14: Final Webtext Due

37. WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHYProvide complete citation information for all primary and secondary source materials you used in creating all components to be included in your website. For all media included in the multimodal texts themselves, include a relevant statement regarding creative rights for each.

38. MILESTONESWeek 11: Submit Site OverviewWeek 12: Submit Wireframe with Design Plan and Submit Working BibliographyWeek 13: Submit Revision Plan/Storyboard Week 14: Final Webtext Due

39. LET’S GET STARTED!